To bolster the Republic’s vision to build a smart nation and with digital economy singled out last week by the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) as one of the keys to Singapore’s future success, students of Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL) will get opportunities to work on real-world tech problems through internships and other platforms via agreements signed with the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) on Monday (Feb 13).

The initiatives under these agreements will start rolling out from this month with training opportunities given to over 300 students under the three-year memorandums of understanding and memorandums of intent inked between GovTech and the eight IHLs.

They aim to develop the technology ecosystem by enhancing the capabilities of the students, IHLs and commercial entities through opportunities offered by the public sector to work on smart technologies.

The students will get to work in areas such as cyber security, data analytics, internet of things and other emerging technologies through internships, attachments and final-year projects with GovTech and private companies.

Saying that these initiatives will support the CFE’s work by strengthening manpower capability, Minister for Communications and Information, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, who officiated at Monday’s signing, said these initiatives will support the CFE’s work by strengthening manpower capability, added: "One of the key considerations of CFE is to build up capabilities within the digital economy – data and cyber security. Within data and cyber security, we also have things like IoT, sensors. We're supporting the CFE recommendations by building on manpower capabilities... I see it as a way of deepening the skill sets, to help Singapore transform into a digital economy.”